cTalks Between Music Publishers, Subscription Services Break Down

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 29, 2005 - 5:31am.

San Francisco -- Negotiations on how much digital music subscription services like Napster, Yahoo and Rhapsody should pay music publishers for the rights to offer their songwriters' music have broken down, CNET News.com reported. While agreements exist with download services and online radio stations, the subscription services have only a temporary deal with music publishers, which has been in place since 2001. While the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) is currently asking for 17% of subscription services' revenues -- a premium over the 5.25% paid for Internet radio and 8.5% for downloads -- the Digital Media Association (DiMA), which represents Yahoo, RealNetworks and others, has offered 6.9% of revenues. The subscription services say they "cannot justify -- for any executive regardless of title -- paying double and triple royalties in comparison to historical industry economics," DiMA executive director Jon Potter wrote in a letter to the publishers groups on Friday.
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